The story revolves round Travis McGee, a beach bum who lives on a houseboat and takes mysterious cases. Unlike most detectives in crime fiction, he only works when running out of money and receives half the value of the item he helps recover as his fee.

Dennis Lehane, whose novel "Mystic River" was turned into an Oscar-nominated film in 2003 by Clint Eastwood, wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay. DiCaprio is still involved in the project as one of the producers. The movie is expected to kick-start a new franchise.